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20-Year Sentence Sought for 'Cooperative' Lindh
Friday, September 27, 2002
By Deborah Charles
Reuters

John Walker Lindh is seen in this Jan. 23, 2002 file photo.
Image Credit: The Associated Press.

"It is important, therefore that the court articulate to those responsible for Mr. Lindh's designation that, despite much public speculation to the contrary, Mr. Lindh is not a convicted terrorist, nor does he pose a threat of terrorist violence that would undoubtedly subject him to the most restrictive and severe conditions reserved for the most violent of offenders."

WASHINGTON -- Reuters
John Walker Lindh, the American who pleaded guilty in July to aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan, has cooperated with authorities and should be sentenced to 20 years in prison, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday.

In court documents filed one week before Lindh's Oct. 4 sentencing, prosecutors said Lindh was following through with his side of a plea bargain in which he pleaded guilty to two charges in exchange for the government dropping all charges related to terrorism.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys said Lindh had submitted to dozens of hours of lengthy interviews by various law enforcement and intelligence authorities.

"The government views these proceedings to date as productive and views the defendant as cooperative," the prosecutors wrote. However, they noted that the "principal debriefings" were not yet complete and said the 21-year-old Californian would also be subject to a polygraph exam.

* FAMILY ASKS JUDGE NOT TO TREAT LINDH AS TERRORIST
(More: The Macon Telegraph News Source)
2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

Dan